With the issue of gun laws headed for what's likely to be a contentious debate at the state Capitol, gun advocates plan to rally Wednesday afternoon in a downtown park just steps from where lawmakers will gather for the start of the legislative session.

The pro-gun rally — organized by the local group Guns for Everyone — is expected to draw participants who legally carry concealed weapons.

Edgar Antillon, who helped organize the rally in Lincoln Park, says it's meant to be peaceful and to convey a message to legislators that individual freedoms should be protected and that gun laws don't make a difference in curbing violent crime.

"This is about the Second Amendment," said Antillon, who estimates 100 to 150 people will attend the rally. "There's all these gun-law ideas being floated around, but they won't work. It's all just a knee-jerk reaction."

Antillon said that when he arrives at the downtown park — situated between Lincoln Street and Broadway below the broad lawn of the Capitol grounds — he'll be carrying his black Glock 17, concealed in a holster on his right hip.

"It's legal," he said, noting he has a concealed-carry permit. "This is about gun rights and freedoms."

The downtown park is located on state property, although local and state law enforcement alike have jurisdiction over it. Colorado is an open-carry state, but it's illegal to openly carry a firearm in the city and county of Denver.

An official with the Denver Police Department said police will be monitoring the rally closely. Asked whether police will make arrests or issue tickets, the official declined to comment.

Sgt. Mike Baker, a spokesman with the Colorado State Patrol, said officers will be on the lookout for individuals at, or traveling to, the rally with firearms that are carried openly.

"We'll let them know it's illegal and turn them away," Baker said.

Some posts to the rally's Facebook page indicate individuals might break the Denver law. In response to a open-carry question on the page, Neal Pashman, whose personal Facebook page says he lives in Centennial, said he would carry his firearm openly at the rally.

In a separate posting, Pashman wrote, "We should be openly carrying our high-capacity capable, semi-automatic rifles and handguns! Let thousands of us show up with loaded weapons!!! Put the fear of God into the police and the legislature, and that scumbag governor!! Let them know what will come next!!!"

Pashman did not respond to a request for comment.

Antillon said he doesn't know Pashman and does not condone the comments.

"I don't want that stuff getting in the way of our message," Antillon said.

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